Prove You Deserve To Live
by Leveragelover
Summary: Sophie's twin sister comes to visit. Nate would never think that Sophie was the evil one. Not until now.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I got the name for this story from I think it was the 2 episode of Dollhouse. I came up with the idea after I had a nightmare that was like this only with different people. I'm not promising that this will be a fun/happy story 'cause it's not. The lyrics somewhere near the end are Girl with one eye by Florence + The Machine. (Ironically a song in one of the first fanfics I ever read and the first song I ever heard by Florence + The Machine) There will be another chapter and I don't own Leverage!**

_Prove You Deserve To Live_

Nate walked downstairs to see Sophie sitting at the counter. She had her arms crossed and her head was down. Why was she sad? He quietly walked over to her, sat down next to her, and put his arm around her. Sophie bolted up, her brown hair falling over her profile.

"What's wrong, Soph?"

Slowly she turned to look at him. She had one blue eye and one brown eye. The woman looked like Sophie but not like her at the same time.

"Who are you?" Nate half yelled.

"I'm Sophie's twin sister Alice," She answered quickly. "I need to tell you something about Sophie."

"If it's not a matter between life and death then I don't really care right now."

"But it is!"

"Oh, come on," Nate rolled his eyes.

"Listen to me-"

Alice cut herself short when Sophie walked in. Nate gave her a look before going over to Sophie and acting like nothing happened.

"Hey," Nate kissed her hello.

"Hey, Nate. Are you ready to-"

"Hello to you too."

"Oh, hey Alice you're out of jail!" Sophie grinned at her sister.

Alice jumped over the counter and nearly strangled Sophie when she said that. Nate, however, pushed Alice back.

"You bitch! You framed me for that!" Alice screamed at her, making no effort to attack her now because she was sure Nate would defend Sophie. He deserved to know the truth but how could she tell him without Sophie killing her?

"I did not frame you for that Alice! The judge sent you to jail and not me," Sophie glared at her sister as she gripped Nates arm tightly.

Nate pulled away from Sophie's grasp and went to write his phone number on a piece of paper. He handed it to Alice and then went back to put his arm around Sophie's waist.

"You can call me if there's any problems. We'll be back in a few hours."

Alice didn't say anything but nodded ever so slightly. The two of them walked out the door and down to Nates car. They had just bought a huge house a few weeks before. It was pretty run down and needed a lot of work so they went there every other day to work on it. Today they were going to work on yard work since it was all over-grown.

**LEVERAGE **

"I'll go get the stuff from the shed and you can start weeding," Sophie said as she started walking over to the shed. The yard was fairly big and stretched on for about the length of a football field. The shed was stupidly placed far away from the house, which to Nate, made no sense. He started weeding and about 10 minutes later Sophie joined him.

"So, does Alice know you're a grifter?"

"No."

"Why was she in jail?"

"She murdered someone," Sophie said with a slight hesitancy in her voice. She didn't like talking about it.

"A murder?"

"There was one witness. Said they saw a woman with two different colored eyes and brownish black hair leave the house. It was my sister."

"How do you know for sure?"

"She's my sister, I know things," Sophie sighed and then yanked out a particularly large weed.

"Alice said you framed her...you didn't did you?"

"I've never killed anyone in my life, Nate," Sophie replied firmly.

"Then why did she say that you framed her?"

"Well, it's easy to blame someone else that looks almost exactly like you."

Nate had more questions to ask about her history with Alice when they were growing up and all these other things. Sophie looked like she was already closing off about the subject so he decided to leave it at that. He hadn't even known that she had a sister. Much less a twin.

"When was the trial and why did you never tell me about it?" The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Sophie's body stiffened slightly and he knew he had crossed the line. "It was a little after Sam died. I figured you didn't need to know."

"Why did you never tell me?"

"Nate, can we please not talk about this! It's just not a pleasant memory nor is she a very pleasant sister," Sophie's voice was strained as she looked at him with her wavering brown eyes.

"Sorry, I shouldnt've brought it up," Nate apologized softly.

"Thanks Love," Sophie leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before going back to weeding. It wasn't much later that Nates phone rang.

"Hello?...oh hey...one second-" He pressed the phone to his chest. "I'm gonna go inside, I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

Nate went inside and brought the phone back up to his ear. "So, tell me this important information now."

"Try not to freak out when I say this because I'm not going to sugarcoat it," She paused. "Sophie's a murderer."

There was a long span of silence.

"What?"

"Sophie is a murderer!"

"That's a lie."

"She framed me for that murder you idiot!"

"But she said that the witness said that they saw a woman with two different colored eyes leave the house."

"Have you never heard of colored contacts?"

"I have but how does that help? I barely know you so how can I believe you?"

"Did Sophie furnish your house so far?"

"Yeah, she's bought quite a lot of stuff already."

"Has she put it around the house?"

"Yes, all of it is in its place..."

"Look around at the stuff she's bought and tell me if you see a theme."

Nate looked up from his place on the couch to the piece above the mantel. Two swords crossed. He looked at the coffee table legs where things were carved in. People being tortured. Nate walked over to the kitchen and looked at another piece hanging on the wall. A swordfish. They had also bought a new set of knives. This was getting a little creepy. He walked upstairs to their bedroom and saw that the pair of nightstand lamps had a fake gun as the pole. He walked down the halls and looked at a few pieces of artwork she had brought. Most of them were the normal beautiful paintings that she stole but some of them were morbid battles and fights filled with blood and gore.

"Notice a theme?"

"So there's a lot of weapon related things and death but the doesn't mean anything. She's always been a bit...sadistic...and liked sadistic things..."

"Well, tell me how it goes while you're at a secluded location with a murderer."

"She's not a murderer," Nate growled.

The line went dead and Nate sighed. He went back outside to see Sophie on her phone.

"Yes, I get it!...sleep with him or don't, I don't care...well what do you want in the relationship?...Tara, stop being so difficult!...don't call me a bitch!...fine!" Sophie huffed and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"What was that about?" Nate asked as he grabbed the gardening shears off the ground.

"Tara was asking me if she should sleep with this guy. She was being difficult about it," Sophie sighed and went back to hoeing the dirt.

"How are you enjoying this yard work?" Nate asked with slight amusement as he took a spot next to her.

"It's bloody stupid but sometimes you have to do the dirty work. I'd rather be inside cooking."

"Cooking?"

"Yeah, don't you remember me saying I wanted to learn how to cook really well when we bought those knives?" Sophie frowned as she looked at him.

So that explains the knives. "Oh, yeah, I remember that," he lied.

**LEVERAGE **

Sophie was in the kitchen looking at how sharp her knives were when Nate walked in. Her mind was focused on the blade but she could tell he had stopped in his place and was frozen still.

"If you look at that thing hard enough it'll cut your eye," Nate joked.

She smirked and put the tomato on the cutting board. The dangerously sharp knife cut through it like it was nothing. "Very funny, Nathan."

"Do you need help cutting anything?"

"No."

"Let me know if you need anything," Nate said as he turned to leave the room.

"What's been up with you today?" Came Sophie's worried voice.

On any day before this idea had been planted inside his head he would've found the voice comforting. Now it made him shiver. He turned around and forced a fake smile.

"You're forcing a smile I can tell. Come here," Sophie walked over to him and took his hand, instructing him to sit on the stool opposite of her on the island. "You seem really uptight today."

"Aren't I always?"

"No. Today you seem like cautious of something...was it Alice that bothered you?"

"Yeah. Actually she is." And that wasn't a lie.

"She gives off a weird vibe doesn't she?"

"Little bit."

"Well I'm sorry that she decided to show up like that."

"How did she get into my apartment?" Nate suddenly asked, remembering that Sophie greeted her like she hasn't seen her yet.

"Well maybe she knows how to pick locks. She is a killer after all."

Nates stomach lurched at the words and he felt himself almost start gagging. He clamped his hand over his mouth and tried to keep from getting sick.

"Nate, what's wrong," Sophie walked over to him and held his face in her hands.

"It just felt like I swallowed an air bubble," Nate said. It wasn't a great excuse but it would suffice.

"Oh. I thought you were going to be sick!" Sophie laughed a little and went back to cutting up more stuff. Nate got up to get a glass at the same time Sophie turned around, and because of the way the kitchen was laid out they were right next to each other. Her knife slashed across his arm, creating a huge deep gash.

Nate cursed in pain as he clutched the open wound. "Dammit Sophie what was that for?"

"It was an accident! I turned around at the same time you walked over!"

Nate watched the blood run down his arm and drip onto the floor. He pulled his hand away to see it covered it in blood. Sophie quickly went to cleaning his gash, getting blood on her hands in the process.

"Why don't you go lay down upstairs babe," Sophie suggested as she finished wrapping gauze around his arm.

Nate cringed at the nickname and the pain in his arm. "Why?"

"Dinner," Was all she said.

"Oh, okay," Nate went off upstairs. He let out a deep breath and let go of the inhibitions that had been clogging his mind and body. Alice was crazy and Sophie was nice. He was overreacting. Sophie was the kind and loveable person he knew and she would be nothing else to him no matter what. She was probably right when saying that Alice was the killer. Like an evil twin.

Back in the kitchen Sophie was cleaning up. She waited until Nates was upstairs to relax. God, was it difficult to keep this demeanor up. Alice had already told him that she was a murderer and of course Nate didn't believe it. She knew this because she had been listening in on her own phone (something she had learned how to do from Hardison.) That's why she had been 'on' the phone when Nate came out. Alice was right though, she did use colored contacts because it was easier to frame her sister for the murder so she wouldn't have to go to jail. She licked the blood off her hand absent-mindedly, a twisted grin carved into her face as she tasted the fear in his blood. 'Accidents' happen all the time.

**LEVERAGE**

Nate was breathing heavy as he fell back down in bed next Sophie. She giggled softly and snuggled close to him. He put his arms around her and turned on his side to look at her.

"You...are...amazing," he breathed as he kissed her lightly.

"So are you."

He smiled and brushed the hair out of her face. Alice was so wrong. Sophie would never hurt anyone on purpose. She was too nice to hurt anyone.

"You know, we never did eat lunch."

Sophie felt her stomach growl. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. I'll go down and finish."

"I'll be up here. Come get me if you need me," he kissed her one more time before she got out of bed. A little after Sophie left Nates phone rang. It was Alice. He reluctantly picked up the phone.

"What?"

"Oh, good, you're not dead!"

"I told you I don't believe you! Please stop bothering me about it."

"I will after you tell me exactly what you've done in between now and since we last talked."

"No!"

"I need to know!"

The main reason why Nate didn't want to tell her was because they had had 'dinner.'

**Meanwhile downstairs **

Sophie cleaned off the knife she was using and started drying it off. She put it in the knife holder with the other ones in the set and pulled out her phone. On the screen it showed a picture of a phone sending signals out. That meant Nate was on the phone with someone. She hit answer and put the phone up to her ear.

"No, I'm not telling you!"

"Are you injured at all?"

There was a pause and Sophie took that as her chance to join in. She started to sing.

_"She told me not to step on the cracks_

_I told her not to fuss and relax_

_Well, her pretty little face stopped me in my tracks_

_But now she sleeps with one eye open_

_That's the price she paid_

_I took a knife and cut out her eye_

_I took it home and watched it wither and die_

_Well, she's lucky that I didn't slip her a smile_

_That's why she sleeps with one eye open_

_That's the price she paid." _

Dead silence.

"Do you get it now, Nate?" There was panic and fear gushing out of Alices voice.

"Yeah, I get it, but who was that?"

"How could you not know?" Sophie said smoothly. She had changed into her black huntress clothing and was now grabbing her knives.

"Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you get it Nate? 'I took a knife and cut out her eye'"

"Are you saying that Sophie cut out your eye?" Nates voice was half hesitant and half confused.

"She's not saying it she's stating it."

"So you actually cut out her eye?"

"Yep," Sophie grabbed her 7in knife and put it in the the holster connected to her sash.

"You were right!" Nate whispered.

"I told you!"

"I have to get out of here!"

"Now. Now. Just wait!" Sophie's voice started to change as the insanity and adrenaline of hunting and killing started to set it. Her accent became grittier and stronger. "You can't leave yet!"

"Why-why not?"

"Because you haven't played my game yet."

"What's the-the game?"

"Prove you deserve to live."

"I-I don't li-like that game!"

"If you prove yourself worthy then I don't kill you," Her face was expressionless as she slipped her two pockets knives in her pocket and watched as the metal of her throwing knives glinted in the sun. "If don't prove yourself worthy then I kill you."

"Have you lost your mind?" Nate practically yelled.

"She's not lying Nate. I played this game and nearly lost my own life," came Alice's voice.

"Now, I will make this quick and simple if you just come downstairs and hand yourself over to me. If not we can chase - and when I say chase I mean I hunt you."

"Hunt me! I'm not an animal you can just kill!"

"The world is like a big food chain. Those who are on top can kill whoever they want," The insanity and adrenaline was pumping even quicker in her veins and her voice.

"Get out NOW!" Alice screamed.

A few seconds later Sophie was standing at the far end of the hall. Then Nate came bounding down the stairs. He stopped in the hallway as he felt her gaze penetrate his back. Slowly, he turned around to see the most frightening thing in the world.

There was the woman he thought he loved standing tall and still. The sun lit her up from behind and cast dark shadows over the front of her. He saw her with knives around her waist and knives in a sash across her torso. One hand had the phone to her ear and the other had another knife in her hand.

He literally almost screamed bloody murder. Nate saw her lips move and a second later he heard one word whispered in his ear.

"Run."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: One more chapter after this! I decided to split it into two parts since it was kind of long so that's why this was so short. Anyway thanks for the reviews and keep 'em coming *u***

* * *

_Trust_

**Previously: **

**Slowly, he turned around to see the most frightening thing in the world. **

**There was the woman he thought he loved standing tall and still. The sun lit her up from behind and cast dark shadows over the front of her. He saw her with knives around her waist and knives in a sash across her torso. One hand had the phone to her ear and the other had another knife.**

**He literally almost screamed bloody murder. Nate saw her lips move and a second later he heard one word whispered in his ear. **

**"Run." **

And that's exactly what he did. He bolted out of the house so fast he swore he was just a blur. What the hell! What the hell! What the hell! He should've started freaking out once she cut his arm. Maybe then he would've had a chance at getting away. Now some killer was chasing him. He ran through the trees that dotted the yard. His feet were flying out from under him and he was jumping over anything in his way. As he reached the far-ish end of the yard and he looked behind him. She was nowhere to be seen. Nate continued to run until he was in the woods. Once he got there he bent down behind a rock to catch his breath.

"You-you were right!" He breathed into the phone.

"I'm sorry!" Alice sobbed.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I should've come up there and saved you."

"That woulda been a really good idea!"

"I wouldn't have let you leave," Sophie said in a steely voice. "I would've killed Alice on the spot and then brought you back in the house to finish you off."

"How exactly would you kill me?" Nate asked as he started to move through the woods again. His intention was to make a huge loop around the house and then head off to the main street. "Because you have a lot of knives."

"You're not going to kill him like you did with Culpepper are you?" Alice's voice was filled with fright.

"You killed Culpepper? The guy we took down while you were gone?"

"Technically you didn't take him down since you got yourself arrested. The police took him down and I came to kill him. I cut his body up like cows meat!"

Nates eyes went impossibly wide. "WHAT?"

"I tortured him first then cut his body up after he died of pain. Smeared his blood on the walls and left his body for the police." Sophie smiled sadistically as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Ah, that one was fun."

"Fu-fu-fun? You find killing people fun?" Nate was still running for his life.

"Yes. Remember when I shot you in Paris?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "You wanted to kill me?"

"Not kill you. I didn't aim to kill."

"But you aimed to harm me?"

"In all technicality, yes. Then when I said that I was happy you weren't a killer. Never said I wasn't."

"I told you Nate!" Alice almost screamed over the phone.

"Shut it Alice! Why don't you do us a favor and get off the phone because this is a fight between Nate and I now."

"Never."

"Alrighty then. Let the hunt begin." Sophie growled the last part into the phone before switching over to her Bluetooth. She got up from her seat and looked at herself in the mirror. Perfect.

Nate ran out of the woods and over to the shed. He threw open the doors and grabbed the first sharp thing he found. It was another pair of gardening shears.

Sophie had a few methods to killing someone. First was a gun, which she used for quick and simple murders. Sometimes she just needed somebody out of the way and that was the quickest way to do it. Next were her own fists, which she used when she wanted a murder to look like it was from a fight. That's how she would get the occasional bruise or cut on her lip. Lastly were her knives, her sweet sweet knives. They were great for torture and throwing. She had used her knives when putting Alice through her game. There were also a few side methods like poising but she found them to be no fun. The reason she was doing this now was because her relationship with Nate was progressing so much that she felt like he hadn't earned it yet. He hadn't really earned the right to be with her because he hadn't proved he was all that worthy. In a normal way he had, but she had much higher standards. He had to prove that she didn't need to kill him. She didn't really want to kill him but wants and needs are different. Could he handle the crazy killer Sophie Devereaux?

"I guess we're about to find out," She answered herself. With a nod at her reflection she headed to the door.

Nate was hiding in the woods again. He still didn't have his breathing under control because he was scared for his life. His breathing was short and shallow and his heart rate was speeding in circles in his chest. Off in the distance he could see Sophie walking around. She wasn't really walking in a any particular direction. Thank God, she wasn't walking in his. Everyone was still on the phone but no one dared to speak.

"I know where you are, Nate," Sophie said in her (well what used to be) normal warm voice.

"So why haven't you killed me yet?" Nate spat at her, his jaw clenched.

"Nate," she smiled, "I think you forgot how my game works. I'm supposed to be hunting you." Sophie snorted and shook her head. "You can't stay up there forever."

"You're right," at the same time Nate cut off one of the branches from the tree he was sitting in. It fell to the ground and hit the dead leaves below. Sophie's head whipped around at the sound. She saw him sitting in the tree with the gardening shears and she narrowed her eyes.

"I knew I should have brought my arrows."

Nate jumped down from his place in the tree, crouching down on impact. He felt the adrenaline start to pulse in him and his body finally let him take deep breaths. With his eyes locked on her with all her menacing beauty he uttered two words

"Catch me."

In that split second Nate started running towards her and she started running towards him. He knew it was about the most stupid idea in the world but he had a plan. A plan G.

Once he got close enough to her she whipped out one of her throwing knives and threw it at him. He was quick to react and ducked under it. Sophie was still running towards him but she was far away. After all her years of being a killer she had gained a good arm and good aim.

Nate scrambled back to grab the throwing knife. It was slick and sharp and he nearly cut his hand on it.

"Alice! Alice are you there?" Nate whispered.

"Just barely," She sobbed into the phone.

"I need you to calm down Alice! If you start having a melt down now you're not going to be able to help me."

Sophie was twenty feet away from him.

15

10

5

Nate held out the gardening shears in front of him and nearly stabbed a hole through her stomach. "Get away from me."

Sophie pulled out both of her 7in knives and spun them around in her hand. She slid the blades across each other, creating a slick metal sound.

"You really aren't scaring me."

She shrugged. "There's another Bluetooth piece in the house if you want it. I don't need your arm getting tired."

"What did you set up something to kill me?"

Sophie sighed and put her knives away. "I don't want to kill you, alright?"

"Then why are you trying to kill me?" Nate almost yelled. He jabbed the shears in her direction and she took a step back to keep from getting hit.

"I need to kill you! That doesn't mean I want to."

"Were you hired by some contractor to come and kill me?"

"No."

"Then how can I get you to stop?"

In a second Sophie pushed the gardening shears out of his hand and got as close as she could without touching him. "Figure it out. Now go get the Bluetooth and come back out. If you don't then I come in after you."

"I will. Just answer this one question: Why?"

"I need to know that I can trust you."

"Trust me with what?"

"That was your one question. Now go," Sophie pushed him to the side and started climbing up the tree. She pulled out one of her smaller knives and twirled it in her fingers before carving words into the tree. Nate stood there for a few seconds, looking at her before walking off to the house.


	3. Chapter 3

_Make Me_

Nate adjusted the Bluetooth piece on his ear and started heading towards the door. He was about to walk out when he remembered something. The swords! Quickly he ran into the living room and grabbed them off the wooden display piece. They were fairly light but the only downside was that they weren't all that sharp. It would cut her of course but nothing too serious. If you would've asked him a day ago if he would be trying to kill Sophie he probably would've laughed them out of the room. But now here he was with two swords in his hands and a very bi-polar, crazy Sophie outside.

"You have 1 minute before I come in there and let all Hell break loose," Sophie said over the phone.

Nate quickly ran out of the house and started to panic when he didn't see her.

"Bet you wish you wouldn't have worn light blue today-"

Nate whipped around as he looked for the sound.

"-maybe dark green would've worked-"

He turned around again.

"-or black like me."

Suddenly she tapped him on the shoulder. Nate turned around and lashed the sword out at her. She dodged it and then grabbed him by the arms, pinning him against the wall. The craziness inside her started to pulse through her more and she kicked Nate in the back of the legs a few time. She ripped the swords from his hands and threw them aside. With one harsh push he fell to the ground. She kicked in the ribs a few times for good measure, and then got down on her knees. Sophie pulled out a knife that could be compared to a steak knife and held his arm down. She started to make surgical types of cuts up and down his arm. He screamed in pain but she didn't stop. The tears stung her eyes but she didn't let them fall.

"If you want it to stop you have to make me!" She almost yelled at him. "Make me stop hurting you!"

Nate just screamed and cried as she continued to cut him. It was now or never. The pain would only get worse and then he would really be a goner. Gathering all the strength he had left he backhand slapped her and then got out from under her. Sophie growled, her eyes glowering as she eyed him through the hair that had fallen over her eyes.

"I really thought you loved me," Nate spat at her as the blood started to flow more and more down his arm.

"I do love you!"

"No you don't," he slapped her again. Stop it! You're not a monster like her. Don't let yourself turn into someone that kills and abuses people.

"I'm going to torture you so bad you're going to wish I had just killed you now."

"You can't kill me. You're too attached to me."

Sophie threw one of her knives at him, lodging it in his stomach. His breath hitched in his throat as he felt the sharp pain in his stomach. He pulled it out and tried to ignore the even sharper pain it created. It was soaked in blood and he gripped the handle with his own bloody hand. He brought his arm back to throw it at her but then dropped it.

"No. I'm not a monster like you."

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shook him roughly. "How many times do I have to hurt you before I kill that stupid nice gene in you?"

Sophie pushed him against the house again and punched him in the face. She gave him a bloody nose. By the amount of blood he was loosing he was sure to pass out soon.

Dammit! She had to keep herself from getting out of hand. If she damaged him too much then he might not be able to heal.

"Run. Run! Get the hell away from me!" She screamed at him. Nate didn't waste a second in running away. Once she was sure he was gone she let her guard down and started crying silently. If he didn't prove himself worthy of keeping her in line she would have to kill him. There was a squirrel off a few yards away from her and she killed it. God dammit why did she let the emotions get to her? She was supposed to stay tough and unrelenting. Quickly she grabbed her phone from her pocket and sent a nasty virus to Nates. There was a small beep and she knew his phone had completely shut down.

"Nate? Nate?" Came Alices exasperated voice.

"I shut his phone off."

"You probably don't even realize how much of a crazy, emotionless, evil bitch you are."

"You don't think I don't know! I'm trying to kill the man I love-"

"-you can't love! You have no heart!" Alice cut her off.

"I'm in love with him! I love him more then you'll ever fucking know! The reason I'm trying to kill him is because I need to know that he would keep me from getting out of hand." Sophie voice was wavering so badly and she took a deep breath to try and keep it under control.

"How are you going to do that?"

"I need him to almost kill me."

There was silence for a while. "You need to know that you can trust him to kill you if you ever got out of hand?"

"Yeah."

"Why now?"

"Well, first off I need to gain his trust before the relationship evolves anymore, and I need him to trust me."

"You're trying to kill him. How are you going to gain his trust now?"

"Probably shoot him

With that Sophie hung up. She wasn't even sure if her plan made sense anymore. Hell, she wasn't even sure if it was going to end the way she wanted it to.

**LEVERAGE **

Once he had gotten his arm bandaged up he went down into the dark and cold basement. He flipped on the lights and walked over to the far right corner. There was a silver gun case and he opened it and took out the gun. If Sophie tried to kill him again then he would shoot her. He wouldn't aim to kill but he would aim to slow her down enough so she wouldn't be able to murder him. Nate put the gun in the waistband of his jeans, making sure to sufficiently hide it behind his jacket. He went upstairs and grabbed the house phone before going back downstairs. He called Alice.

"Alice. I have a gun and next time she comes and tries to kill me I'm going to shoot her."

"Nate! I figured out why she's doing this!"

"She needs to know she can trust me. She wouldn't tell me about what though."

"She needs to trust that-"

"I knew I should've fried the home phone too," came Sophie's annoyed voice. "By the way, where are you Nate? You're hiding and ruining the fun of the game."

"I'm not hiding. I'm waiting."

"She needs you to trust her because-"

"You tell him and I shoot you. And you know that's not an empty threat."

"No wonder Nate wants to..." She trailed off when she realized that she wasn't supposed to tell her.

"Nate wants to what? You want to do what?" Her voice was filled with an undertone of rage just waiting to burst.

"I'm waiting."

He hung up the phone. Two could play crazy if that was how it was going to be. Not much later he heard steps on the floor above him. They seemed hastened and he knew that she was searching for him. No, not searching, hunting. It wasn't until much later that he heard her feet come to the basement door and stop. The door was thrown open and light flooded down the stairs, illuminating Nate sitting against the wall opposite the stairs.

"Should've know you were hiding down here," Sophie said as she pulled out her knife.

Nate rose to his feet, his face cold. "This shirt used to be light blue. Now a large portion of it is red."

"What did you expect to happen when you were bleeding?"

He quirked an eyebrow up at her. "I'm tired of you. I really am."

"Do you still love me?"

"What?"

"Do you still love me?"

"You're trying to kill me how could I still love you?"

"So even after these 14 years this one time ruined all of it for you? I still have emotion, Nate. I'm still a human." Sophie felt the burning sensation rise in her throat but she pushed it away.

"You're a monster!"

"Murders are not monsters; they're humans."

"I just wish you weren't a killer Sophie. I would think after you met Eliot and we found out what he did for Mereaou that you would stop."

"I haven't killed anyone in 6 months!" Sophie nearly yelled at him.

"What difference does it make?"

"I'm trying to stop for you! Okay? I'm trying to fucking stop for you!" Sophie screamed at him. Her breathing was heavy and her hair was starting to stand up in every which way as she ran her hand through her hair.

Nate took a slight step down. Slight. "How many people have you killed since the team was formed?"

"Six," Sophie spat out. The rage was the only thing keeping her from having a total meltdown.

"Then why are you trying to kill me?"

"I need to know I can trust you!"

"You can trust me," Nate half yelled at her. He was tired of this stupid game.

"Not that sort of trust, Nate. This one is different."

Nate pulled the gun out and roughly grabbed her by the shoulder, pushing her against the wall. He pressed the cold gun barrel against her heaving chest. "Answer my question."

The next thing he knew Sophie pushed him away and swiped her knife at his face. He felt blood trickle down his check and he nearly dropped the gun in surprise. That was the last straw.

He shot her in the right shoulder.

Sophie gasped in surprise when the bullet ripped through her shoulder. When did he get the gun? The pain spread through her body like fire but she didn't let the pain show. She walked over to Nate, crying as she did so, and hugged him to the best of her ability. He was even more surprised but slowly wrapped his arms around her. She was crying on his shoulder and for a second he forgot what she had done and what he had done.

Once her tears slowed down she pulled away to look at him, but did not leave his embrace.

"You passed."

"What?"

"The game; you passed."

"How?"

"I needed to trust that you would kill me if I ever got out of line."

That's when he remembered he had shot her. "But I didn't kill you."

"Yeah, but you pulled the trigger to make me stop. I told you to make me stop hurting you, and you did." Sophies face and voice were back to the way he remembered them. A little frazzled from the days events but comforting non-the-less.

"Why did you never say anything when I was trying to kill Dubenich?"

"I didn't want you turning into a killer," she said as she hugged him again.

"You seemed truly bothered by the fact that Eliot almost shot him though..." Nate whispered.

"I was. Not because it bothered me that he was about to kill someone but because of what you would've done. It would've been nightmarish.

"Somehow I see that this all comes back to me."

"Because I love you," she started simply but whole-heartedly.

"Me too," Nate whispered back.

"Even after I tried to kill you and even after you said you didn't?"

Nate pulled back to look at her. "You didn't want to kill me."

Sophie laughed a little but then winced in pain. "Can you stitch this bullet wound before I loose anymore blood?"

"Yeah, of course! Sorry, I completely forgot," he took her hand in his and led her up stairs. Once they got up there she took her knives off and got her shirt off with Nates help. He couldn't help but notice she was wearing black lacy lingerie.

"You're one beautiful woman if it makes you feel any better," he said as he pulled out the things he needed to stitch her wound.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "You're just saying that because I'm not wearing a shirt."

"I'd say it no matter what you were wearing. Even if that happened to be nothing," Nate smirked at her before starting to clean the wound.

"Men," she muttered under her breath.

He was finishing up with the stitches in her shoulder when he remembered something. "So, uh, what are we going to tell the team? It's going to be impossible to hide my arm, the cut on my face, and the fact I got stabbed in the stomach. You got shot in shoulder."

"We could tell them we're going on vacation until we're healed," Sophie suggested.

"Just the two of us?"

"Just the two of us."

"Well how could I say no to a few weeks with you!"

"You can't!"

They both laughed despite everything that had happened prior to her getting shot. Maybe their relationship was even more screwed up then before but it was them. So what they had to hide that she was a killer and that she had tried to kill him. They did hide the fact they were sleeping together from the team...at least for a little while. Nate leaned in and kissed Sophie, deciding that he loved her no matter what she had ever done.

A/N: Yeah I know it was a sappy ending. Eh, I was going to kill Nate but then I realized I would have to put a major character death warning thing and It would've ruined the end. I just started a sort of suspense-y, drama, mystery, hurt/comfort story. Yeah…I'll get around to posting that sometime soon. Maybe…sorry, school is killing me right now.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This was requested by A Fan and this may or may not be as morbid as I could've written it. Warning: Death.**

_Alternate Ending_

Two could play crazy if that was how it was going to be. Not much later he heard steps on the floor above him. They seemed hastened and he knew that she was searching for him. No, not searching, hunting. It wasn't until much later that he heard her feet come to the basement door and stop. The door was thrown open and light flooded down the stairs, illuminating Nate sitting against the wall opposite the stairs.

"Should've know you were hiding down here," Sophie said as she pulled out her knife.

Nate rose to his feet, his face cold. He watched as she walked up to him and dragged her knife down his face. "I hate you.

"If you hate me so much then why don't you kill me?" She taunted. She had to get him to stop her before she really had to kill him. Then she felt the cold metal of the gun barrel pressed against her stomach.

"Maybe I will."

This was too easy. "You're not evil enough. You're too good to kill me."

She heard the distinct click of the gun as he pressed it to her chest. "Try me."

"You couldn't kill the man that was responsible for your sons death. You couldn't kill the man responsible for your fathers death. What makes you think you can kill the woman you're in love with?"

"I'm not in love with you anymore!" Nate spat.

His words hurt. They hurt more then they should. "Even after everything we've been through this one time ruined it?"

"You're a monster!"

"I'm not a monster. I'm a human." Sophie's voice was stern but then it melted away, "with feelings and emotions."

"You're just a psychopath," Nate yelled. His hand was shaking slightly and he couldn't get it to stop no matter how hard he tried.

She felt the tears start to sting her eyes again. She was not a psychopath! "Nobody is all evil. There's always something that's good about them."

"Crazy evil heartless and soulless psychopath killer. You should be locked up for what you've done."

"You're words hurt me," Sophie said in an angry tone. She was on the edge now. She was trying to be nice but he was pushing it. He was pushing his chance at living.

"I don't care if they hurt you anymore. You're fucked up in the brain and you need to go die or go to prison."

"I'd rather go to prison," Sophie said through gritted teeth. She didn't wait for a response though and grabbed the gun and shot him straight in the chest. A shudder vibrated through her as she saw his knees buckle and his body collapse to the ground.

"I thought you loved me," he spluttered out. Blood started to spill out of his mouth as his eyes slipped half shut and his head fell limp. She couldn't keep the tears from falling now. They spilled out more and more each time as she got down on the ground next to him. She held his dead body in her arms as her sobs rang through the cold walls of the dark basement. What had she done? What had she become?

_Narrator: _

_Sophie delivered the news to the team about her true self and Nates death. She informed them about how she had shot him and how horrible she felt afterwards. Eliot was beyond furious and the others looked revolted and afraid to go near her. Sophie knew she couldn't get away with this so she took the same gun and shot herself in front of them. Instead of the three breaking apart they became closer then ever. Parker became even more fragile and broken while Hardison was internally and mentally scarred for life. Eliot then had to take on the fatherly role to make sure everyone stayed mostly sane. They should've known that their lives couldn't stay happy forever._


End file.
